#but i'm curious to see who else crops up

[lilalbatross]

AFC Richmond’s season 3 opponents

Chelsea West Ham United Manchester City

[kanmom51]

JM Muse Blooming

Concept photos and clip

JM's first concept photos dropped, and what can you say? The man is 🔥🔥

Walking in the Smeraldo flowers garden.

Wearing this belt:

Same belt?

The minute I saw this photo it felt a little familiar.

And then it hit me.

JK's 2D shoot.

Now, I'm no photography expert, but it looks like the same kind of slow exposure technique is used for this photo.

And then we have this:

How far will you go for love

To the moon?

To tell the whole world that you want that one person you love, even if your love may be considered as wrong or ugly to some?

To enlist together, being the first idols EVER to do so?

I guess pretty far.

Yeah yeah, I know not everything is about Jikook. This is JM's album, JM's photo concept, JM's creation. And yes, not everything is about them as a couple. There is definitley plenty that isn't. But with saying that, we have seen, time and time again, referencing, coding and mirroring of one another. Not everything is about them as a couple, but yet, I do believe that some of it is.

And then we have this next photo.

Now really?

If you are sitting there and denying the second you saw the tie you didn't envision this:

then you are lying. Either out right or to yourself.

The tie, the crop top. Even the pose with the shoulder tilt and the lifting of the chin gaze looking down.

Reminds me of someone else that had some mirroring going on and was called a copycat and so much more and worse.

I can assure you that was one among many photos taken in that shoot, and yet, that was the photo chosen by JM.

Third photo.

Besides the fact that JM is beautiful, no need to even state the obvious, we get a few more details from this photo.

First we get the 13 on his cheek.

In the Face shoots he had the studs/thorns and scar under his eye, and now he's proudly wearing the number 13, a number that means so much to him that he has it permanently tattooed on his arm.

His nail art.

In the teaser clip we had the crescent (probably right hand) and now we get two parallel lines. An equal sign perhaps?

We also have a little bit more sharing going on.

I guess Jikook do love to share their outfits and accessories when it comes to these solo shoots specifically.

Another coincidence? I think we are way past the point of believing that it is.

We have shared belts.

Same pants.

Different parts of the same outfit.

Same singlet.

Same necklace.

We also got this message:

ARMY! Who knew a baby chick could be so dangerous? One look at these concept photos and you might have a heart attack 🐥 10 years of this boy and he’s still finding new ways to be beautiful? 🤦‍♀️ 🐣: Is that how you see me?! 💜: Exactly that, yes. Hope you’re all pumped up for another new chapter in our lovely shared story!!

I find a few things curious with this one.

First of all, using the terms "boy" and "beautiful".

JM being an almost 30 yo man choosing the work boy is a little strange here, and knowing that every single thing he does is done with thought, just like the use of the non binary singer emoji for the 30 minute reminder or the tteokbokkibyjk.

And what about the use of the term beautiful, a term usually used as an expression of feminine good looks rather than masculine (not by me, btw, but by many).

Another curious thing I found was the dialogue, and more so, the question asked by JM: "Is that how you see me?!"

Question mark exclamation mark.

Is he asking us if we see him as a boy? Is it about age or gender? If we see him as beautiful? Is this about me overthinking? 🤣🤣

And then we have the clip:

So, JM in the dark, looking away from us.

Then the place lightens up and the camera goes into a close up of JM's face, and he's looking into the camera, or at us.

He's literally looking into my soul.

What to expect?

With JM I think we have gotten used to expecting the unexpected, in the very best way possible.

D-19

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

helloooo have a messy scribble page of oc concepts. unfortunately, im in love and will now proceed to ramble At Length

but before that! rudimentary height chart!

all i know rn is Mairy - the cow - is about the same height as Howdy/Barnaby/Poppy (around 8ft), Hettie & Daisy are in the Wally/Julie/Sally category (around 3ft), and Jesterly is more Frank/Eddie (around 4ft). Derry Drake is fuckoff huge, and Casey is... idk really. tall but not That tall

so. rambles. i... have those, yeah

Mairy Love - she/her - lesbian a gorgeous white/blue cow! originally she was gonna be pink/white, but blue/white is my favorite color combo and honestly? it's dairy colors to me. she's big! she's strong! she's very gentle and sweet but also takes shit from no one, even though she doesn't like confrontation much (unless its playful roughhousing! jokes fly completely over her head! i'm thinking she tends to a lovely orchard of various fruit trees, and probably cultivates some crops for fun as well. maybe seasonal ones? pumpkins for the spooky season, fir trees for those snowy days, etc.

Casey J. Mittens - he/him - aro this orange fella is scaredy cat central! unfortunately for him, he's also curious to a fault! curiosity killed the cat, and he fears the day that rings true for him! he'd rather curl up at home or in a cozy tree, crocheting something cute from one of his many balls of yarn than do anything else. he tries to be a voice of reason, but is too easily convinced otherwise. he's that friend who says "we shouldn't be doing this" as he wholeheartedly assists in the shenanigan in question.

Hettie (currently undecided) - she/her - bi true to her honeybee heritage, Hettie is a florist! she boasts an impressive array of flowers that she tends to like her life depends on it. she's always running around to make sure they're all getting the best care - and she's always checking in on her pals to make sure they're taken care of, too. she's a busy bee who wouldn't know a day's rest if it stung her on the ass! It takes a lot to make her mad, but everybody better watch out when her wings start buzzing

Daisy Hop - she/him - pan i actually created Daisy as a supplementary character for a certain au, but realized i could find a place for her in this little group. i'm thinking he runs a little shop - a roadside stall, more like - where she can both sell her own homemade candy & his friends' stuff! she's the only one in the group that can keep up with Hettie's energy, and even surpass it at times. though unlike Hettie, Daisy knows how to take (and appreciate) a break!

Jesterly - whatever/is/funniest - Derry a menace. they love pranks above all else, oftentimes at the expense of others. he's always up to something and is never not scheming something! there's always Someone to bother! in all honesty she's more like an annoying stray cat that no one can get rid of... and they better not try, or they'll face the wrath of this fool's Very large partner! The jester's cap never comes off, and neither does the mask!

Derry Drake - they/them - Jesterly there's no sugarcoating it - Derry is a big lazy grump! it's almost impossible to get them out of their cave, or off of any place they decide to nap. the only thing that can reliably get them moving is the promise - or prospect - of food. it's a wonder how they've accumulated such a hoard of random things in the back of their cave, seeing as they rarely get up at all. they're incredibly nearsighted and bite first, ask questions later - after all, who knows if the colorful blob in front of them is food or not! better to be safe than hungry!

currently in my mind they have their own little community deep in the woods. Daisy lives in a modified burrow, Maisy has a cute farmhouse, Casey lives in a cozy treehouse, Hettie has a small cottage, and Derry & Jesterly live in a cave. within their community, they share practically everything. want a snack? pluck something from the orchard. need a new pair of mittens? ask Casey! i suppose you could say they're communists <3 (except for Daisy. she won't charge his friends, but anyone else is free game)

Mairy and Hettie have romantic tension, Daisy and Derry are the only ones who can tolerate Jes, Mairy wants Jes dead, Casey is terrified of Derry, Daisy's rapid-fire speech confuses everyone but Hettie, etc. i should make a chart for funsies...

[deliriumzer0]

Gen Loss' shooting location

I'm super into dead/dying malls so I knew what mall it was as soon as I saw the ending of Ep 2, but I didn't wanna post anything about it until after Ranboo had left NY just in case. I'm not about to facilitate any creepy behavior, you know?

So GenLoss was filmed at the now-closed Galleria at White Plains, which -- fun fact! -- is the same mall used for interior mall shots in the movie Eighth Grade (so everyone who enjoys Ranboo/Bo Burnham connections, there's a fun one!). It opened in 1980 and positioned itself as the mall for "normal" people, in contrast to the more upscale Westchester mall nearby. Sadly, that other mall is still alive & kicking, while this one was closed at the end of March 2023. There are apparently redevelopment plans in the works to turn it into mixed-use (retail + residential) space.

I was too curious about what some of the stores used in the shoot used to be, and how much of what I saw in GL was set design and how much was already in place, so I looked up old directories & photos of the mall to see if I could sleuth some of it out. In case anyone else was curious about the set designers' work, or is into retail history, I figured I would share my findings!

The central elevator area of the mall in GenLoss, and how it appeared in 2019. (Screenshot from the 2019 video linked below)

Apologies for the multiple different angles on this one, but this is all the same area, first in GenLoss (right after Ranboo starts walking away from the panel where Hetch is appearing), then from the Fleabitten Adventures 2023 video, then from the Raw & Real Retail video from 2019. (Couldn't resist screenshotting the drone ad on that last one, lol)

In the GenLoss screenshot, at the far right edge of the Sears entryway, you can see a bit of the painting left behind, so my guess is the GL set decorators got rid of that artwork for the shoot.

The screen where Ranboo first speaks to Hetch in ep 3. The empty store behind them was an American Eagle Outfitters at one point, but it was already closed by February 2023. (screeenshot from Fleabitten Adventures 2023 video)

Here's a before & after of this directory panel. (Screenshot from the Fleabitten Adventures 2023 video)

The store full of "props". In the original store photo (Google's only photo of this shop), you can see how the existing shelves were repurposed for GL. Also way at the far end of the store there's a black & white photo of someone with a basketball that was left hanging up.

I had a hard time finding a closer angle of this Victoria's Secret, but in case you were curious, here's one from the Raw & Real Retail video lol.

Where Ranboo almost left but Hetch stopped them: a Kay Jewelers.

The streamers are sitting in the following establishments: My Kitchen, Bourbon Street Cafe, Sarku Japan, Dunkin' Donuts, and of course Charley's. The last empty storefront was a Burger King before it emptied out. (Photo from Foursquare, cropped by me)

The Dental & Foot Care storefront is unchanged except for the seating out in the open area. It was a rounded wooden bench set as of Feb 2023 (screenshot from the Fleabitten Adventures video), but for GL it was the standard metal benches found throughout the mall. Not sure why.

Going far back enough, this was a Radio Shack. Couldn't find ANY photos of this particular location though, so here's the only photo I could find of what it was in the interim: a dress shop called Gloria's. (Photo from Yelp)

This one is my favorite part. :) As of February 2023 (screenshots are from the Fleabitten Adventures video), the "Heart of the Facility" is this weirdly sparse artsy furniture store called Home Splash. But before this, what the shop's facade was designed for, was...

A Charlotte Russe location. Ranboo died in a fucking Charlotte Russe. When I learned this, I could not stop laughing.

More/Sources:

https://www.reddit.com/r/deadmalls/comments/zupwhw/the_galleria_at_white_plains_ny_in_late_afternoon/

A great youtube video from Fleabitten Adventures walking through the whole mall in February 2023

Raw & Real Retail walkthrough video (from 2019)

A shorter walthrough video from HELLOTHISIS4U

Photos from FourSquare

I didn't cover everything I learned here, just the stuff I thought was coolest (and that I had images of), so please feel free to flood my ask box with questions about what certain things used to be!

[bonzos-number-1-fan]

TMAGP 30 Thoughts: Concrete Evidence

Our finale is upon us. Albeit more of a slightly extended episode than it is double-length. It's more like 10 minutes longer than a standard episode and while I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing I do think it sort of sucks to set expectations and then not deliver on it. Especially when it was a Kickstarter stretch goal. I worry the epilogue is going to feel like the last 10 minutes sliced off of this one too. Either way it was a great episode all in all.

Spoilers for episode 30 below the cut.

This episode follows the classic late in a season episode formula. By which I mean lots of it is really explicit about what it means but some bits are the sort of thing I like to pull out and analyse. So a lot of the plot beats aren't things I need to cover but there are lots of quotes I do want to dig into. Starting with Sam and Celia on the train, which is a real culmination of Celia's general game plan so far. While it's made abundantly clear by the end of this episode her manipulation of the characters has been a fairly constant part of her characterisation so far.

CELIA It sounded like you’d have gone anyway. At least this way I can make sure it all goes to plan. SAM (small laugh) There’s a plan? CELIA Besides, you’re not the only one who’s curious.

That quote really sums up her whole deal this season IMO. She's always been pushing characters to do one thing or another. As soon as her intentions are brought up she'll avoid the question and move the conversation on to something else. It's been happening basically since she was introduced and I'm really glad to see it built up into something satisfying.

Man, poor Colin. I was hoping we'd get some sort of escalation of his storyline this episode but it looks like that'll be more of a season 2 affair. Similarly that looks to be where Gwen is headed too. She's finally got the job she's after but as Lena warns, and as we're all well aware, she's woefully unprepared for it. Mr. Bonzo, Ink5oul, Lady Mowbray, and Needles will all likely play larger roles in season 2 because of it.

I'm not going to get into the details much but I did really enjoy the Custodian's statement. Lots of fun vibes and little details with his character all around. I would've liked to see him stick around in all honestly and crop up again. His fate is quite interesting though because it's showing a lot more from [Error]'s abilities than has previously been showcased. She made Drowning Victim drown but her statement was all about drowning so that's not too crazy, this is much more tangentially related and a far more extreme effect on the victim. Hard to know how much that means but it might be worth pointing out.

The Hilltop Centre is a lot different to what I was expecting. It seems much more like a supernatural hub than the prior incidents concerning it let on. I'm wondering if this is unique to this universe or a constant throughout them. Without getting too much into the details it could be fallout from TMA's ending but this wound that Celia talks about strikes me as a little odd in that context. There was seemingly only one of them at Hilltop. Unless the world Celia came from is also where Darrien 3 came from, as he arrived from that point, then that wound is drawing in everyone from other realities. However if that's the case then there are some fairly major questions about the metaphysical underpinnings of it. It got "better" when Sam was thrown in but there are also clearly a lot of other people coming through as the Custodian mentions.

It wasn’t all death though. Sometimes people… arrived. Not often, but every now and then you’d find some thin, emaciated soul wandering around, lost and confused.

It wasn't just Darrien 3 that came through, multiple people arrived in the same manner. A manner we know isn't how Celia got here because her reaction to that incident was that it wasn't the same. So is this wound just an amalgamation of all the imbalances from all the various universes? We know why Celia wants to "balance" this because it's trying to pull her back, hence the "sleepwalking", and it would eventually win out. How it works on a larger scale is sort of hard to say. It seems like it will just be there forever until everyone who's not meant to be in this universe has left. That seems like a very tall order based on what we've seen. Speaking of balance.

The institute, alchemy, all of it. It’s all about balance. Dua prima, four elements, seven planets, it’s all the same. You’ve got to keep things balanced.

This is a very interesting quote. There are two possible interpretations for this and I'm not sure it's intended to be seen that way. Each of the things Celia lists here is either correctly numbered or off by one. So she might be saying that these are things for which balance is important, or she's saying these are unbalanced things and need correcting. Either works well with her point here.

Dua prima is not really actually a thing as such and is both the biggest indicator she's talking in terms of them being off by one, but also the biggest indicator she's not. Paracelsus' tria prima is a fairly important concept in alchemy as a whole and if you've read more than a few of my posts you'll have seen me mention it. In short sulphur, salt, and mercury are representative of three fundamental properties. Combustibility, permanence, and fluidity respectively and in addition represent the body, the soul, and the spirit. Paracelsus didn't arrive at this idea on his own however and it's largely an addition to Jābir ibn Ḥayyān's work. Jābir, or Geber as he's sometimes known, had this theory of metals that stated all metals were a mix of sulphur and mercury. Additionally sulphur is associated with masculine qualities and the sun, while mercury is associated with feminine ones and the moon. It's not ever called dua prima so far as I'm aware but you could reasonably make that argument.

This same logic can be applied to her mention of the four elements in which fire, air, earth, and water would make up a classical set of four but can also be considered off by one as aether is a later yet—still classical—addition. Alchemy has seven "planets" each with a corresponding metal but our modern definition puts seven off by one as we would say there are eight. However with all that being said I'm more inclined to believe she meant these things were balanced as they are. I said that the dua prima was also the best indicator of that and for the reason why we've got to go back to episode 19.

Doing mummy and daddy Stasi proud, I’m sure. Not that anyone cares as long as it all balances, right? Not too much mercury or the world ends, not too much sulfur or we all go mad…

At the time I said this was two of the three primes of tria prima, which it is, but in this context it doesn't appear that the lack of salt was an omission. Salt just might not be a part of it at all. It's fairly hard to say exactly how important this will be though. It certainly seems quite relevant but it's also something they might be making up rather than anything more firmly rooted in existing alchemic lore.

I don’t- when I first awoke I knew nothing, nothing but the dream of things that sliced my who from me with claws like scalpels… They would hunt me and toy with what it meant to be me peeling away my layers first my name, then my memory and then… …and then the fearless one reached in and grasped me, tore me out, leaving my story to fall away like autumn leaves…

I think Celia's statement has very little to get into really, I just wanted to mention that it was a nice detail. Another if you know you know and not a topic I get into here. [Error] also has a line here I think is interesting but it requires getting more into TMA than I care for so I'm going to leave it. I'm not 100% sure what to make of it either as of yet.

And there we have it. Season 1 is wrapped. Well other than the epilogue, What If?, fluff episode, and trailer. I don't have much of a bow to tie on this really other than to say I've really enjoyed this season and I'm excited for where it's going to go next.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prediction Follow Up

Celia is going to get [Error]ed and exposition dump about her whole deal. - That happened but the exposition relevant to the show's plot didn't occur via that.

Alice gets got and she's got some secret twisty trauma. - Didn't happen.

Teddy can give her a lift and we'll hear what was on his mind. - Also didn't happen.

Speaking of [Error] it seems likely that Celia is going to reveal at least what she knows about Archivists. - This didn't not happen but also didn't really happen exactly.

With [Error] being this season's antagonist it's likely that she's going to get defeated in the finale. - Kinda sorta maybe.

It could be a gaping maw in realities that sucks our cast off to someplace new. - Got some of our cast at least, so lets say 3.

Hilltop is likely to play some role in defeating [Error] and if I had to hazard a guess I think it's likely we'll see some of the great cosmology at play here - Kinda sorta.

I think we're also going to see a good bit of Gwen going behind Lena's back too... I don't think we'll necessarily see anything major happen but I do think it's a pretty likely hook for season 2. - Yeah, that all basically happened.

Final Score 10/10 - Being incorrect does not impact my self-worth.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Season 2 Predictions

Honestly, I don't have much to say for this. It's probably going to be still follow the same characters, Sam will deal with whatever new universe he's in, Celia will play dumb but Alice won't buy it, Gwen will fail to deal with her new responsibilities, Teddy will reveal some awful secret, Colin will go further into the deep end, and there will probably be some sort of Magnus-based twist.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Incident/CAT#R#DPHW Master Sheet and Terminology Sheet

DPHW Theory: 3366 is a very pleasing set of numbers. This one matches episode 8's Architecture (Liminal) -/- Hunger too which I mention for the thematic symmetry. They're quite different incidents but has some similar elements. Which I think is a good indication of my theory's strength. You'd expect some sort of parallels to be able to be drawn if these numbers were ratings in categories as I've laid out. It's not definitive proof but it's more than I've had to talk about here for a while.

CAT# Theory: CAT2 is another obviously "wrong" one for the Person/Place/Object theory IMO. Hilltop is a place but Hilltop didn't cause it and it didn't happen to Hilltop. [Error] made a dude turn into concrete. Fairly useless to pin that one on the location. I think there are more than enough of these obviously faulty ones that I can stop mentioning it come season 2. Hopefully I'll have my own theory to talk about by then too.

R# Theory: We've finally got our first S. It's been long awaited if only by myself. Generally, I'm very pleased with this. An S on this case is some of the best evidence I've had that I'm correct about the general purpose of Ranks. A still living concrete man is undeniable evidence of the supernatural. No amount of explaining it away changes the fact a man turned into concrete and lived to tell the tale. It's still not 100% certain if Rank is purely about evidence or more about urgency in general but I do think now it's fairly clear that if I'm not entirely correct it's the right path.

Header talk: Transmutation (Human) -/- Isolation (Urban). Very little to talk about on that one but it's interesting to see the continued difference between transformation and transmutation.

[scenetocause]

This isn't a kiss prompt but I didn't know who else to send it to. Given you're into fisting would you ever write urethral play? Rule 63 pretty please and ignore this if it's not your thing!!!! Thank you for your service 💋

anon i need you to know this is the most horrifically targeted ask in history and i am found out. called out. seen. it's taken me days to respond because i'm having conniptions. let's all never meet at the satanic ritual again if you sent this no you didn't if you read this no you didn't i absolutely definitely didn't write it.

this seemed to fit very perfectly to pussy exploring champion genders maxy. warnings for what this is and inevitably a bit of piss.

Luisa says no straight away, tells Lando to watch more normal porn. He looks suitably ashamed of himself but also directly at Max, who hasn't replied yet.

"Err," she's not. Well she's seen it, obviously, back in the Formula Renault days when everyone was trying to one-up each other about what they'd whacked one out to. But she doesn't think about that type of thing too often, now. Doesn't exactly need to.

"You are not," Luisa looks scandalised. "No way."

"I dunno," Max argues. "It's - well. It's interesting, maybe?"

Luisa makes a very disgusted sound, like she's about to call them both idiot boys but doesn't want to offend Max. "Not when I'm here. Could you get back to-" she gestures between her own legs - "now, please?"

It's something Max is beyond happy to do, especially when Lando slides up behind where she's bent over, sticks his dick in Max's pussy while her tongue's up Luisa's, fitting perfectly between them.

It's a few weeks later when the opportunity presents itself. Luisa's away, Lando's received a few suspiciously plain parcels, Max is feeling restless and horny but doesn't want to give him the satisfaction of riding his dick for a second time in a day. Bloke wins one race and thinks he's got free use or something.

Max might let him. One day. For a weekend or something. If he wins a championship. For now, though, she's curious about this.

When Lando pushes her back into the duvet, one of his hands behind her waist to maneuver her so she's settled nicely against the pillows, it feels like the right time to ask. To shimmy her legs around his, so she can hook her ankles behind his thighs and hold him there, just in case actually saying it makes either of them nervous.

In the end she can't quite get it out, anyway. "Do you want to try - putting something up. You know?"

"Fuck." Lando clearly wasn't expecting her to ask that, has to collapse on her a bit. "Fuck, really? Yeah - yeah, if you want to."

"If it's shit we can do something else, yeah?" Everything on PornHub was a bit rancid, Max is pretty sure she's not going to be doing any of that. But it's nice when Lando tongues her there, sometimes. Weirdly soothing, if her cunt's a bit achey from fucking.

Lando moans into her collarbone, kisses her under the ear before a breathy confession. "I'm glad it's you - I knew she wouldn't really be, y'know."

There's a thing, with them. That they do stuff together, sometimes and it's different from with Luisa. When they're all fucking it's great, so good but sometimes Max and Lando almost try stuff on, before they take it to her. Just to get the knack first, really.

"Better get, y'know. And a towel." Kicking him off the bed to go and find everything feels a bit mean but also fuck is Max going to do it herself. It gives her time to kick off her own shorts, leave her in a soft, comfy crop top Lando can see her nipples through, anyway.

When he gets back he drops some stuff on the bed, kneels back to take his own shirt off. It's a nice view, lot of abs and shoulders and Lando's tight, dark nipples. He's so built now and Max can't really bring herself to get jealous about it, with her own body to explore, these days.

Lando wastes no time in pushing her thighs apart, big hands spanning them. His thumbs are massaging the crease, spreading the outer lips of her pussy immediately and she can feel where she's wet with anticipation, the slide easy.

"Towel." She can't be bothered to do laundry after this, is pretty sure she'll want Lando to hold her.

He shakes his head like he's trying to snap himself out of something. "Right, yeah."

Lando picks one of her thighs up, props it on his own hip while he's dipping his fingers beneath her hips, rubbing them over Max's arsehole. "I'm gonna start here."

"Well it's not there." Surely he knows that?

"Nope." Lando looks smug and ashamed at the same time. "I wanna fuck you here."

It punches the air out of her, sometimes. The way Lando wants her, wants Max. He's got a bit of a thing for anal anyway but because they did this before, when Max was a boy, it always feels natural with them.

"Ok, yeah."

It's so nice, wet fingers playing over her and dipping inside, she almost forgets they're not just doing that this afternoon. Feeling stretched around Lando's fingers isn't as good as his cock but it gets her in a relaxing kind of mood, concentrating on making the tension leave her body, letting the anticipation build.

"Your arse is so good." It's a bit embarrassing how basic compliments still get her - of course her arse is great, Lando's lucky he gets to do it but appreciation is always nice.

"C'mon," she wants her clit touched, feeling wet and swollen.

Lando doesn't do that, although he takes his fingers out of her arse, carefully wipes them on the towel underneath her, then frowns and gets up to go and wash them in the sink.

For a minute, she thinks maybe it was messy and wants to die a bit, making a questioning noise when he gets back.

"No - just. Should be sterile, innit?" Oh, yeah. Max doesn't really want to be pissing blood any time soon. It's nice, that Lando cares this much about her. Makes it easy to part her legs, wide and prop them a bit like an uncomfortable doctors appointment, much easier with Lando's thumb rubbing over her clit.

He wriggles down on his belly, disappearing from her view and Max closes her eyes, tries not to think too much about the view he's got. Her arse, glistening with lube and still twitching a bit from the intrusion. Her pussy, puffed up with how turned on she is and sopping wet where he's spreading her open, looking inside.

It makes her gasp, when she feels that he can see it, from the sudden air. It almost makes her want to pee but then Lando's mouth is there, wet and as soothing as she remembered it.

The catch of the tip of his tongue over it makes Max blush. It feels very possible, suddenly, that something could go up there. When Lando sucks on it a bit, gentle and warm, she wants to relax it, pee in his mouth just a tiny bit and it's a weird, mortifying thought that drags a harsh noise out of her, shocked at herself.

The exhale makes her let go, just a tiny bit and then nearly try to scramble off the bed, if Lando hadn't been there to hold her down with his hands round her hips.

He looks at her, aggrieved and with a wet face. "You know I am trying to make you do that?"

"Oh." She'd sort of known - you can't get round piss being a bit involved, can you? But not in his mouth, maybe. Should've know Lando's a fucking freak.

"Relax, Maxy." She settles back and he dives back in, licking her all over for a few minutes before getting back to sucking over her peehole, soft and warm.

This time it's more deliberate, when she relaxes. It's not a lot, not even a dribble, really, just a few drops from her opening up for him.

Lando grunts in satisfaction, stops sucking to lick over her, dipping his tongue further into her pussy. It feels a bit urgent, suddenly, to get attention there or to piss properly.

"C'mon, do the thing."

"Yeah?" Lando sounds a bit gargly, like he is on team radio sometimes. "Can I put it in you?"

He sounds so hopeful Max forces herself to stay relaxed, not tense up with anticipation. "You can try. Y'know, with lube."

The sound Lando's got in his hand isn't big - probably the smallest he could order, with a safely rounded tip. Max is pretty sure that's her limit, isn't interested in anything that would stretch her out there, just something that will fit.

Lando sloshes so much lube it feels like her pussy is squelching and it takes him a moment to get a good enough grip to open her back up, with the forefinger and thumb of his left hand, while he's aiming.

Trying to relax, feeling the round tip of the sound against her, she feels the hot splash of some piss escape her and Lando uses all those F1 reaction times to push it forward, just inside.

It's. So weird. Nothing like her arse or her pussy, almost feels like she can feel it in her clit. Makes her wriggle down, get her legs further apart and-

"More." She sounds hoarse, embarrassed and Lando just hums like he's mesmerised, fucks the sound a little deeper.

She feels the moment when it's in, partly as relief that the ball part is past and only the smooth, silicone stick is being squeezed and partly as a rush of heat between her legs, leaking.

It must make her make a noise, although Max isn't sure she could've heard herself over the blood rushing through her ears. Still, Lando responds. "It's so hot. Fuck, Max, does it hurt?"

Sort of, would be her honest answer. It's not comfortable, at the same time as it feels incredible. Filthy, special, like she's going to come insanely hard as soon as Lando does anything else to her.

"Not really. Not, like, bad. I like it." It feels shocking admitting that, almost the same gut-punch as when she'd had to say the opposite about racing.

Lando tuts. "I'm going to-" he tugs on the sound, gentle. "Take it out. Want to get you off."

She doesn't have the words to say that'll probably do it. That she might come when he's pulling it slowly out. By some miracle, she doesn't because Lando's mouth is back there, suddenly. His right thumb, freed from holding the sound, is on her clit and she's definitely wetting, a little bit, when her thighs clamp around his head while she's shaking through it.

When she lets him go Lando drags himself up like he's just done a brutal workout. His face is red with heat or horny or both and his mouth is dripping, goatee soaked.

"Fuck, I'm not gonna be able to-" he's shoving his joggers off, cock springing free with a spider-web trail of precome to the fabric. "I'm - fuck, Max."

He's coming over her pussy, splattering her pubes, before he's even really got a hand on himself, fingertips loosely rubbing himself through it.

Lando moans, collapsing on the bed next to her. "I know we've got to - give me a minute."

She rolls over, pulls his face against her tits. "Thank you, buddy."

Lando makes a sort of affectionate noise, burrowing into her chest. "Can't believe - yeah, good. So good, actually."

He runs her a bath, when she gets up to pee. Sits behind her in it until they're both pruning and the water's getting cool, their bodies warmer than what's around them, pressed together.

[imawreck]

Dress up

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier x Original Character

Summary: The two assassins prepare for a much awaited date.

Warnings: Self loathing/deprecating thoughts, brief mention of nudity, but other than that it’s tooth rotting fluff.

Word Count: 2,556

Snow-

There was a sharp knock at my door, dragging me back into reality and out of the old pages of the book I held between my hands. I set it aside and got off the bed, quickly making my way over to the door after a quick glance at the alarm clock. 3:00, more than likely Pepper. I peered out the peephole on the door, greeted with a smile from a prim woman on the other side. I pulled the door open, taking in her appearance.

She was beautiful. Well kept too, her blue blouse tucked into a black pencil skirt. She stood on two inch heels, making her just a bit taller than I was. "You must be Snow. Tony has told me quite a bit about you." Her smile warmed me as she spoke, "I'm Pepper, Tony's secretary. He sent me to get you a dress for an outing tonight?"

I nodded, "Hi Pepper, Tony talks about you all the time. Please, come on in." I stepped to the side to allow her entry. Her heels clicked against the hard floors as she made her way over to my bed to lay the bagged item over it. I shut the door behind her, "I don't know what to expect with this whole ordeal."

Pepper smiled kindly at me from the middle of the room, motioning me over with a wave of her hand. "Lots and lots of fun."

I joined her, taking a glance at the bag. "It isn't too... Tony style, is it?"

Pepper laughed at that, a light and feathery sound. "No, oh God no, I wouldn't let him do that to you. He asked me to pick it out." She reached over and unzipped the bag, allowing me to see what was inside. I touched the dark fabric, running my fingers over it a few times. "It's beautiful."

She nodded, lifting it out of the bag and holding it out in front of me, "You are going to blow him away."

I knew I was going to love Pepper from that moment on. I had told her I invited Natasha to join us, and shortly after I had mentioned the woman, she had shown up at the door with curious eyes and a catlike smile. "So, you have a date, huh?"

I gave her a playful swat, "Does everyone in the tower know?"

Natasha laughed, "Of course not, only the ones who pay attention."

I gave her a sour look, "Sure."

The three of us chatted while the two of them went through my closet of belongings to see what I could wear with the dress tonight. Natasha did, for the most part actually, while Pepper stood by and watched, commenting on certain items she thought would go well.

Before long, Natasha let out a frustrated groan. "You have nothing in here that screams sexy! Combat boots, cargo pants, long shirts, where's the skin?"

"I have a couple of cropped shirts in there, but I don't care to show too much." I shifted the back of my shirt down subconsciously.

Nat turned around, "Come on, you've got the body. Why hide it?"

I shook my head, "It's just not me."

She pursed her lips, "Well, you're going to need some better shoes at least. I have some boots that would look wonderful with that dress and by the looks of your closet, they'll be right up your alley too."

I raised a brow at her, nodding slowly. "Okay, just nothing too tall." I made a pointed look at her to make it final. She rolled her eyes and nodded in agreement before leaving the room.

Pepper had quietly gone through some of my other things, taking small notes on some things in a notepad before delicately shutting the drawers. "I'll go grab you one last thing you'll need, and then we will get you all situated with everything else." She gave me one last warm smile before slipping out. I turned around, grabbing the dress, and shut myself in the bathroom.

I hardly recognize myself in mirrors, not since the experiments. I didn't always look the way I did now. I once thought I was beautiful just like the girls I'd see on the streets. Long brown hair, warm blue eyes, innocent and bright and ready to learn to be like those men I had thought to be my idols.

I raked my eyes over my reflection, criticizing my blank hair and the scars adorning my face. I touched my temples, tracing the circular incisions with disgust.

Tossing the dress onto the counter, I stripped off the shirt I wore, averting my eyes from the mirror until I stood nearly nude in front of it. When I could brave a glance, I lifted my head to stare into the eyes of the girl in front of me.

Cold, silvery moons glinted back at me. They switched between ice blue and dead irises with each tilt of my head as I gazed over the scars remaining on my body from long before the serum. To this day, I could hardly stand to look myself in the eye for more than a few seconds at a time. My reflection just reminded me of everything that used to be before, and what I could never have because of what I was now. 

My fingers danced over the scar just above my hip, long and pink. The skin was shimmery on all of them, the serum had a hard time removing anything done prior to it's injection. Every piece of my time before it had remained etched into my skin to stay forever. I reached over my shoulders to trace over the stripes of raised skin at the base of my neck to the ones wrapping around my sides, reaching towards my stomach in sharp, biting angles.

I shook my head, gripping the end of the dress and tugging it over my head. It was form-fitting, stopping around mid thigh, nothing too much but definitely enough to show my more appealing features. The material was thick and warm, perfect for the weather.

I stepped out of the bathroom right as the two women walked through the door, their smiles bright as they looked me over. Pepper stepped up to me, handing me a piece of slim black fabric, "Spanks for your own comfort if you want them, and I brought you these." Pepper pressed the small container into my palm. "They're contacts."

I took them, nodding in thanks as I slipped them under the dress. "It's beautiful Pepper, thank you." I gripped the contacts in my hands, making note to put them in before I left.

"Of course, you look wonderful in it."

Natasha snickered from her spot against the wall, "Barnes won't know how to control himself. Tell me you're wearing something special under that." She sent me a wink.

I laughed, a little nervous and moderately embarrassed at her suggestiveness. "No, he and I aren't like that! I was surprised he even asked me." I could feel the heat burning my ears as I said it.

Another groan left her lips as she shoved off the wall and marched over to me. "Here, these will finish your look." She held out a pair of rather long grey boots with a small wedge heel. "They're too small on me, so you can keep them if they fit you."

I slipped them on, tugging them up over my knee, leaving a strip of skin between the end of my dress and the start of the boots. They lifted me just two inches, enough to show a difference from normal and keep me at a comfortable level just in case something went wrong. Pepper laid out a long grey coat and puffy cap out on the bed. "Now, would you like any makeup tonight?"

Natasha butted in before I could answer, "Tonight is a date, of course you do. Not that you aren't already drop dead gorgeous, but it's a special night."

I looked back to Pepper, shrugging my shoulders. "I haven't worn much since the thirties."

Both gawked at me, Natasha piping up from beside the other woman. "How old are you?"

I squinted at her, "Old enough."

Both of them stared for a beat later before Pepper clapped her hands, "Alright, we only have a few hours left so let's get this done."

_____

Bucky-

I had been watching the clock all afternoon.

I had trimmed my hair, evening out the longer strands and attempting to gel it as much as I could. I shaved, cleaning up my stubble around the edges to give me a more clean cut appearance. I didn't own a full suit, but I didn't feel like that fit me very well. So I threw on a white button up, leaving the top two open and dropping my dog tags below the collar. I tugged on some black slacks I had stolen from Steve as well as a pair of loafers. Searching through the closet, I picked out my leather jacket and threw it onto my bed before jogging into the bathroom to freshen up one last time before I left to pick her up.

I took one last look at myself, half turned away from the mirror, and realized how closely I resembled the man I used to be. Shaking it off, I turned, throwing on my leather jacket and walking towards the hall to the elevator. I tugged my fingerless gloves on after I shut the door behind me.

Just as I was about to start jogging out of nerves, Steve stepped out of his room right into my path. We collided, both of us reaching out to steady each other with a hand on the shoulder. He took me in, taking note of my clean appearance. "You're looking awfully sharp, what's the occasion? Tony throwing some party I don't know about?"

I laughed, grinning from ear to ear. "Not at all, I got myself a date.”

Steve's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "You got a date? Jeez Buck, I didn't even know you were looking for that sort of thing. Who's it with, someone you met outside the tower?"

I shook my head, shoving my hands in my pockets. "No, actually. I asked Snow this morning."

His face seemed to fall as I said it, as if confirming some suspicion he had. "That's great Buck, but are you sure that's what you want?"

I looked at him, my own smile falling just a little. "Yeah, she's great, why wouldn't it be what I wanted? She makes me feel human again. Normal, Steve."

Steve sighed, his shoulders dropping with the breath. "I just don't know about it, Buck. She's dangerous, unstable even. I'm just not sure she's what's best for you."

I could hardly believe what he was saying to me. "She is exactly what's best for me. Snow knows what it's like after you get out of Hydra, Steve. She understands what I have to go through, what I have to live with." Sharpness cut into my voice, "I have to go. I can't be late."

I had Friday notify Snow that I was pulling the car around the front of the building as soon as I was out of Steve's earshot. I hurried down to the garage where Tony kept his vehicles and clicked the unlock button until I located the car he had lent me for the night. It was a slick black 1965 Mustang, obviously taken care of.

I slipped into the driver's seat, gripping the leather steering wheel and admiring the red interior. I put it in reverse and pulled out, shifting it once more and pulling around to park right in front of the double glass doors of the Avengers tower. I stepped out, jogging around the front of the car and leaning myself against the side to wait for her to arrive.

Right at six, the glass doors swung open and out stepped a woman I hardly recognized. Long grey boots clicked against the pavement, a stripe of skin peaking out just above them before the hem of her black dress draped across her thighs again.

She was in the middle of tugging on a large grey coat, giving me a glimpse of the shoulder cut outs teasingly peeking out from under it. The dress had a turtleneck, the black fabric folded over once neatly around her jaw. Her white hair stuck out delicately from below a puffy black hat with a little bill slightly crooked. Her eyes danced across me, before meeting my own.

When she finally got to me, her smile was bright and her blue eyes pinned me with a humorous gaze. I could tell instantly that she had worn something over them, little flicks of green now tinted them. "Hello Bucky, you clean up very nicely."

I couldn't pull my eyes away from her delicate features as I lifted my hand to straighten out her hat. "You look stunning."

Her smile widened and I swore the light blush on her cheeks darkened. "Thank you. Shall we head out?"

I nodded, sweeping the car door open and gesturing grandly towards the vehicle. "After you, Doll."

Snow giggled, the sound spreading warmth like fire through me. I hustled around and joined her in the heated cab, having left it on for the engine to warm. I revved the engine and we were off, rolling down the main roads on the way to the outskirts of the city. My heart thrummed in my chest as we went. I gestured to the radio about a mile down the road, pulling Snow's attention from the car window. "Music? I have no idea what Tony has in."

She nodded, reaching over the same time as I did. Our fingers bumped together and both of us pulled away with a laugh. Snow patted my wrist, her eyes glimmering in the light, "I'll get it, you focus on the road." Her hands agilely clicked on the stereo and sat back.

Something old, really old, started to play out of the speakers and Snow's brows furrowed in amusement. I copied her expression, "What is this?"

Snow burst out laughing, her eyes crinkling and her lovely smile on full display, "I have no idea, but I'm certain it's older than both of  us."

I couldn't help but laugh with her as she cranked up the stereo and began to bob her head to the strange beat. "Tony sure does have a broad taste."

She nodded, still grinning, "You can say that again."

I pulled the car into the field beside the carnival along with the rest of the carnival goers. I stepped out of the car, jogging around to tug open the handle to the passenger door with what I hoped look like a charming smile.

Snow raised her eyebrows, gesturing grandly and dipping her head low in a bow, "Why thank you, sir." She lifted her eyes with a mischievous glint flickering in them.

I mimicked her, dipping my head and gripping an imaginary hat to tip at her, "My pleasure, Madame."

We both burst out laughing as she took my arm and we headed to join the line at the gates.

Tags<3

@imdoingathingmom / @cjand10 / @blackbirdwitch22

[allfortzu]

the first draft of can we get closer (let's get closer) -- i couldn't bear not posting it, since it is completed :)

(expect similarities, though it's quite different!)

jihyo / tzuyu, 2k. suggestive (basically smut) // MEN DNI

tzuyu has never liked tattoos. 

she's never liked the idea of pain leaving a permanent mark, created by someone else, no less. 

perhaps if she were a little more artistic, had a little more in way of creative self-expression. perhaps then she would learn to fully appreciate them, like how chaeyoung did. 

she liked them on other people, though, enjoyed looking at all of chaeyoung's little works. 

but for now, tzuyu is content without any of her own. 

confidently so, she's always thought. 

yet here she is, eyes fixated on one park jihyo, suddenly intrigued.

jihyo was, by no means, a close friend. a mutual contact at best and one tzuyu has never really thought much past her profession.

but it's this exact thought that has tzuyu hooked, curiosity piqued. what does park jihyo's tattoos look like?

chaeyoung has fallen asleep on the couch by now, their planning session definitely lasting longer than expected, but jihyo hasn't left, and tzuyu is too distracted to want to leave. 

she's too distracted by jihyo. 

she can't stop looking at the edges of faded black beneath the sleeves of jihyo's tee, can’t stop catching glimpses of carefully lined maroon when jihyo's lifts her arms just so, stretching languidly from sketching too long. the hem of her crop rises slightly to reveal more ink, right around her ribcage. 

tzuyu tilts her head subconsciously, entranced. 

unfortunately for her, jihyo is perceptive – and bold. 

"checking me out?" she chuckles, throwing tzuyu a playful wink. sets her pen down, happy for an excuse to talk to this friend of chaeyoung she's always seen around, but never got the chance to know. it's casual, flirty. 

but tzuyu isn't so easily shaken. "yeah, just… curious." they've interacted enough for her to be honest, she thinks.

jihyo smiles, slightly amused, how tzuyu cuts to the chase so quickly. "see anything you like?" 

"okay, i'm not checking you out, just curious." 

"sorry, sorry," jihyo laughs, somehow enjoying tzuyu's deadpan way of banter. "pretty girls make me say stupid things."

she pushes herself off the ground and joins tzuyu, the leather couch sinking gently under her. "curious about what?" 

it's the most they've talked ever; the most she's heard tzuyu talk, so jihyo naturally wants to keep the conversation going, if only to hear tzuyu's voice more. 

"your…," tzuyu says, unexpectedly sheepish at the suddenly very real prospect of jihyo flirting. 

"um… your tattoos?" she words it as a question, just so it doesn't come off too imposing – also because she'd been snapped out of her thoughts and in that moment, wasn't thinking of anything but is she flirting?

jihyo doesn't seem to mind her uncertainty at all.

"oh, you saw?" she looks down at her exposed abdomen, before lifting her cropped tee just a little more, and tzuyu gets her first taste of what exactly she hasn't seen. 

"they're a bit hidden, but i promise i'm not a tattoo artist who hasn't experienced a tattoo before," jihyo says, like tzuyu was a potential customer expressing her worries. "don't worry." 

except that wasn't really what tzuyu was asking for, so she bites her tongue. 

but it's like jihyo reads her mind, or maybe tzuyu isn't very good at hiding her emotions, because she asks, "wanna see more?" 

"really?" tzuyu perks up, brows raising in anticipation. "do you have pictures?" 

"no, but i can show you now," jihyo offers, and tzuyu practically beams. 

if tzuyu had a tail, jihyo thinks it would definitely be wagging right now, because she nods so quickly that jihyo can't help but let the excitement rub off her. 

she thought tzuyu was shy at first, because they'd never talked much; then, a little stoic in the way she spoke – 

but now, tzuyu's just cute. 

jihyo lifts the hem of her tee, wisps of red and black revealed. tzuyu leans in, and she makes out a fragment of a flame, curving right below the underside of jihyo's chest. it's elegant in its form, less patchwork like chaeyoung’s and more cohesive. 

"i have these, another just halfway down my shoulder, and one more on my back," jihyo explains, eager to share. "it's a big one, but not too big." 

she takes off her shirt, and tzuyu jolts back in surprise, heart in her throat. 

"oh, you– " you don't have to, is what she means to say, but the moment she sees the tattoo on jihyo's back, she forgets.

it's a breathtaking tattoo, brushstroke-like details, similar to the ones on her ribcage. the red and blacks are a constant theme, and they flow down the dip of her spine, spreading over her shoulder blades and fading off in the edges. 

"did it hurt?" tzuyu asks, voice softer, like jihyo's delicately drawn tattoos simply warranted something more gentle. she reaches out to touch, a curious moth to a flame; traces her fingers over the lines. "it's beautiful." 

jihyo feels goosebumps rise in the wake of tzuyu's touch, but her chest swells with pride at tzuyu's comment. "it hurt, but it was worth it, so they cancel out, yeah?” she reasons. “are you thinking of getting one?" 

"definitely worth it," tzuyu agrees. she didn't know she had a preference for tattoos, but she thinks she might have one now. they looked incredibly good on others, namely jihyo. "but no, i don't like pain." 

"didn't think you were a scaredy cat," jihyo teases, grin sly. 

the jibe is enough to snap tzuyu out of her trance, and she folds her arms back into her chest with a huff. "not liking pain doesn't mean i'm scared of it," she scoffs. "i would just rather not experience it." 

jihyo laughs at tzuyu's silly workaround, a light chuckle leaving her lips that, if not for the fact they were the only ones talking, tzuyu would not have heard. 

"who says pain has to be bad?" jihyo muses, leaning into where tzuyu had leaned back. "won't know until you try, right?"

at this point, tzuyu isn't sure if jihyo's still joking or not. it's the same laid back expression, the one she had when she'd called tzuyu pretty, but the words here don't feel quite the same. 

"what do you mean?" tzuyu asks.

"you know, like how people talk about mixing pain with pleasure," jihyo says, taking tzuyu's hand in hers. 

"like how… if i do this – " she tugs hard, and tzuyu falls forward with a yelp. " –the suspense hurts," jihyo giggles. "but then there're also these butterflies in your tummy."

yeah, there're butterflies in her tummy, but she can't say they're from the pain of her hitched breaths – can't say they're not from jihyo's proximity. 

tzuyu is suddenly acutely aware that jihyo is topless, and the only reason she isn't all over jihyo is because she's holding herself up. 

"this is– this is different," tzuyu denies resolutely, but she sounds a little out of breath. "not the same as… a tattoo." 

"it's about the feeling, tzuyu," jihyo says, eyes fleeting down to tzuyu's lips, then back up. 

tzuyu's chest tightens, and she doesn't know if it's the butterflies, or whatever it is jihyo is making her feel. 

but isn't that how it always goes – flame burning moth the moment they touch. 

there's a beat. 

a short one, but a thousand thoughts run through tzuyu's mind in that fraction of a second. 

jihyo's eyes bore into hers, and all of tzuyu's thoughts condense into a single sentence –

she’s so pretty. 

tzuyu stops breathing.  

"can i kiss you?" 

it's jihyo who asks. 

she's quiet. 

can i kiss you?

there's the soft exhale of their breaths, anticipation palpable. a tiny spark. 

"you’re really pretty," tzuyu whispers. 

all the butterflies come back. 

the spark bursts like wildfire, the moment jihyo leans in to press her lips into hers. 

jihyo tastes warm, so warm it spreads down tzuyu's neck, into her chest, and she hates that they're in this position now, because she wants her hands on jihyo; wants to feel all that warmth in its entirety.

she doesn’t really know how they’ve gotten here, how they’ve moved so quickly, but doesn’t really care. 

the only place tzuyu can reach is jihyo's ribcage, so she does just that, thumbs pressing into ink, fingers curving into her sides. "i really like your tattoos," she murmurs in between kisses. 

"mhm," jihyo hums, searching for tzuyu's lips again. "i like you.”

she gives tzuyu another peck, and tzuyu can’t really reply, especially not with jihyo nipping. her teeth close gently with tzuyu’s lips in between, tugging until it hurts ever so slightly, enough to make tzuyu suck in a breath. 

“unnie– “ tzuyu mewls, tasting copper on her tongue and digging her fingers into jihyo’s sides. the sensation is odd, but jihyo kisses the pain away.

“that hurt,” tzuyu murmurs.

“that was the goal,” jihyo says, nosing the underside of tzuyu’s jaw before placing another kiss there. 

she sucks lightly, and tzuyu feels teeth again, probing. she notes jihyo’s penchant for biting, and is about to reprimand her again for the pain, but then jihyo sucks where she’s bitten, and all tzuyu can do is squirm and instinctively cant her head upward, the buzz that crawls down her neck suddenly addicting. 

jihyo pulls back then, licking her lips at the sight of the reddening mark under tzuyu’s jaw. “you look so pretty, all marked up.” 

tzuyu barely has a second to respond before jihyo dives in again, this time to the base of her neck, right at the edge of her collarbone. she does the same thing over – sucking, biting, licking – painful, but less so now that tzuyu has experienced it, and there’s such a pleasant hum that follows, making her stomach curl deliciously, choking back her whimpers. 

“unnie,” tzuyu breathes out, a silent request she can’t find the words for in her current state of mind. 

she wants jihyo to touch her properly, to sate that heat in her tummy, maybe mark her up there, and jihyo can see it in the way tzuyu has unconsciously started moving her hips against her thighs too, grinding with evident desperation. 

but she can also hear chaeyoung shuffling, the telltale shifting of someone on the verge of waking up, so jihyo licks at tzuyu’s collarbone a final time, and pulls back. 

“not now,” jihyo whispers, hands finding purchase on tzuyu’s waist to stop her from getting off completely on jihyo’s thigh. “chaeyoung."  

a short, high pitched sound escapes tzuyu’s throat, a meek whine that encapsulates all her frustration perfectly. it's like her entire vocabulary has dwindled down to nothing, and it's embarrassing the way she even thinks of begging. "unnie…" 

"you're so cute, tzuyu," jihyo muses. she bites at tzuyu's neck again, and the sting is warm and insistent. 

but tzuyu's also uncomfortably wet now, soaked through with nothing to satiate her. "i still… don't like pain," she huffs, just to annoy jihyo. 

"hey, i haven’t shown you what that really is yet,” jihyo teases. “give me an answer the next time i come over.”

the promise of next time makes tzuyu’s tummy flutter; those stupid butterflies jihyo keeps giving her.

she doesn’t entertain jihyo with a response, sitting up and untangling their legs. jihyo laughs, tzuyu’s tantrum terribly endearing, and she’s about to tease a little more before chaeyoung lets out an audible groan. 

tzuyu’s eyes widen, and jihyo quickly slips on her shirt. they hold their breath when chaeyoung starts rubbing the sleep out her eyes, groaning again. “this fucking couch… i’m moving to my bed.” 

she doesn’t even spare them a glance, trudging to her bedroom in muted thuds. 

tzuyu and jihyo exchange looks, before they start giggling uncontrollably.

“i think that’s my cue to leave,” jihyo laughs, trying to regain her composure. 

she leans in, puckering her lips, as if asking for a goodbye kiss. 

tzuyu taps her cheeks lightly. “next time.”

jihyo narrows her eyes. tzuyu smiles slyly. 

“fine,” jihyo pouts. “try not to dream about me.” 

with a flirtatious wink, she’s out the door. 

tzuyu lets it simmer for a bit, burning the memory of jihyo’s tattoos into her mind. red, black, and flowy. the ones on her ribs curve into her sides, another on her shoulders inching down to her collarbones. and then her back, following the dip of her spine, over her shoulder blades. 

a trail of red is scattered down tzuyu’s neck, jihyo’s marks etched into her skin. 

[desertdollranch]

Dolls brands I never thought I'd own, part 4: Global PenPals

Meet Amity Anderson!

This doll was a tough cookie to track down. I first stumbled across her last year while searching for a completely different doll on eBay. I thought she was adorable, but priced way too high, so I let someone else have her. When I saw her come up again recently for a lot cheaper, I lost the bidding war. When she popped up unexpectedly a third time, I managed to snap her up right away.

The first time I saw her, I was curious about her origin, since the listing said nothing about the brand, Global PenPals. I figured it was someone's small business, because it's an unfortunate truth that many, many 18 inch doll companies produce beautiful and quality dolls for a few short years and then go out of business. Because she certainly didn't look poorly made or low quality; she obviously had a lot of love put into her production. I could tell she had a really nice wig and a carefully sculpted, realistic face mold. She was meant to be more than just a toy, but a little friend as well. That's what I liked about her. She was special, rare, obscure, and unique. And as much as I love my American Girl dolls, I also love the rare and obscure 18 inch dolls that have fallen into my lap over the years through pure luck. That has turned me into a connoisseur of obscure dolls. The rarer, the better.

So for that reason I couldn't get her off my mind. I became very fixated on finding one. I did a Google search that brought up nothing but the listing for her, plus a few dolls with similar brand names, or sites for finding an actual human pen pal. But I noticed the listing photo included a picture of her box, which had the URL of the brand's website. It was defunct, so I plugged into the Wayback Machine at archive.org to see what I could find.

Keep reading for a deep dive into The Global PenPals.

(Hello to anyone in the future who might be doing a web search about this doll! I'm sure you've found little to no information. I've put everything right here for your convenience!)

...

The site's first snapshot was taken in February 2011. It has a very short intro:

"This site is dedicated to children everywhere. Autumn Woods and Amity Anderson will begin pen pal corresponding with children in other parts of the world. They will learn about different living conditions and diverse cultural traditions. Will they discover that children are the same worldwide? Come along with us and see!"

None of the links on the sidebar were archived by the Wayback machine, so I looked at the next three snapshots, taken in July 2013, January 2014, and December 2014 (the final snapshot).

Now this snapshot displays a lot more content, although once again most of the site didn't get archived. The intro is more or less the same. But now we can see illustrations of the two main characters, Autumn Woods and Amity Anderson.

Clicking through the "Meet and learn more about Autumn" graphic linked to a page that had biographies for both characters.

Autumn Woods introduces herself first. She was born in October, hence her name, but she loves Christmas more. She lives in Kennewick, Washington with her parents and younger sister, and likes her school. She's athletic and loves to do cartwheels. Her best friend Amity lives in Basin City, near the farm where her grandparents live. She doesn't know a whole lot about the world outside of Kennewick, so she's looking forward to making pen pals all around the world.

Amity Anderson introduces herself next. She loves living on a farm in Basin City, and most of the other kids at her school are also from farming families, or live in the area seasonally, which has made her curious about the lives of other children of different background. Her family grows cherries, and sometimes the crops fail due to weather conditions. They also have lots of animals including dogs, cats, and cows. She has a secret hideout in the hay loft.

The next page linked at the top contains all of the pen pal letters to and from Autumn and Amity.

There are 10 pages of these letters. The first letter is dated June 11th of 2011, and the final one is dated August 14th of 2013.

Next link is Marcia's Dolls.

To sum it up, Global PenPals was started by Marcia Elovich in 2010. She had always sewn doll clothes for her granddaughter, and her husband built doll furniture. She used dolls to help schoolchildren learn more about the lives and perspectives of children all over the world. She modeled the dolls' faces on her granddaughter and niece, and hopes to introduce more dolls to the brand.

The next link is to the shop.

Only the Amity doll is being sold here. All the images are broken, but I can see that Amity cost $59.00.

The next tab, Media, is pretty much empty.

That's all that I can access with the Wayback Machine, but I didn't stop there.

I Googled Marcia Elovich and found the three Global PenPals books she has published.

These are current, no need to use the Wayback Machine. Here's the link to the list if you're curious about the books. You can click through and read summaries of each.

"About the Author" on the second and third books:

Marcia Harvey Elovich has enjoyed interacting with children in family, at school and other community settings. When she began looking forward to retirement from the local school district, she set up a website around two fictional characters, Amity Anderson and Autumn Woods, using her granddaughter and her niece as visual models for the character images she draws. Through the website, Marcia continues to story-tell to youngsters and adults alike. Amity lives on the farm in Basin City where, in fact, Marcia was raised, and she pursues many of the same interests and activities Marcia did while growing up with her best friend Linda. Autumn lives in town and attends Amistad Elementary School, where Marcia formerly worked as a para-eductor, and earlier as a nurse in the Kennewick School District. This was the birthplace of her peaked interest in interacting with children and later-in-life interest in education. Marcia has recently begun manufacturing of the character dolls and is now converting the website stories into children's books. Also within the framework of her stories, Marcia has interactions from her personal pen pals with whom she is communicating around the globe. Through contrast and compare, she can better present awareness of how alike we are from country to country, culture to culture, religion to religion. "Perhaps the next generation will be more compassionate, not merely tolerating diversity but embracing it!" she adds. In their retirement, Marcia works with her husband and sidekick Bob, marketing her dolls and his woodworked doll furniture. She has one young adult son living at home and an older son living within the community. Her daughter and grandchildren live out of state, so she has to love them long-distance. Through Bob, she has acquired a second daughter who lives in the area and a step-son living out of state. Marcia specifically wants to thank her mother and father, Bob and Kay Harvey, for providing a childhood almost as colorful as the fictional one of which she writes. They gave to her, her three brothers and many childhood friends their mentoring in an era when the village actually did help raise the children.

I also found Marcia's Pinterest profile. She has pinned exactly four images.

The first two are the illustrations seen on the website. The other two are pictures of the dolls.

This picture's caption:

"Amity Anderson if one of the first two characters at www.theglobalpenpals.com and the first to be manufactured as a doll. She is vinyl with soft body and has beautiful peach complexion, with perfect detail down to tiny doll- scale freckles across her nose. She comes in clothes as seen, turquoise tennis shoes, and the matching elastic headband on her long, tangle-free auburn hair. I designed the doll after my own granddaughter. Lovely presentation box designed solely for The Global PenPals."

This confirms that the doll I have is indeed Amity, not Autumn as I had sort of guessed. Amity is illustrated with bangs, but it seems that changed at some point in the doll's design.

I guess that's Autumn on the left? I see no indication on the site or elsewhere that she was ever sold, so it's possible she never made it past the prototype stage.

There's very little else out there about the dolls. A few pictures on Worthpoint with captions stating what I've already put here.

Amity seems to be one of those ultra-rare dolls that only a few collectors know about. After losing out on two other listings, I know that at least two other people do have one and know what Amity is worth. But I have no idea exactly how many dolls were ever produced and sold before the brand disappeared, which probably happened within three years of their debut.

I wonder if their failure may have been due to the price point, $59, which seems very low for a doll with such a nice wig, sleep eyes, a cloth body, a beautifully designed box, and proprietary clothing.

[doodle-pops]

Hi! Hope you're doing well and taking care of yourself! I decided to wear leggings to the gym today (a first for me) and it got me thinking. How do you think the elves would view our clothes? Like if a girl showed up in front of them in leggings and a crop top or shorts and a tank top (just lots of skin showing and pretty tight, but not revealing per se), what would be their initial thought? Disgust? Or just like "hey, they're a different culture, so whatever". Curious to know what you think.

I'm doing fine for the time being, though life has been slow on my end making everything feel distant and sluggish from time to time 🤷‍♀️. I do hope everything is better on your end. I remember when I used to wear my leggings to the gym, but since everything has gotten expensive, my gym is at home 😆.

Though must say, since leggings are a part of elven attire, I don't see them being disgusted or appalled by you wearing them. Perhaps when they take a closer look and notice that it’s tighter than usual, they might question if you're wearing the wrong size or forgot the rest of your overalls lol. For the crop/tank top, being honest here, the elves in general (not just House of Finwe but the Eldar) will have a giant question mark over their heads.

The idea of you walking around dressed half-naked before them would make their heads spin. It's as though you're wearing your bedroom clothes/undergarments as regular wear. Scandalous! You might get scolded for not covering up enough. "Get back inside and put on the rest of your clothes! Indecency!" 😅.

However, you might be lucky to find a few (like count them on your fingers type of few) who would pardon your apparel and say "Meh, humans. What else?" and carry on about their day.

Overall, the majority would be concerned with the choice of wear since it appears as undergarments being worn as normal clothes. You're gonna give these elves a stroke 😂

[vera-king-hrfl]

I'll prove it, @crowwolf 😁

Heat of the Night part 5

CW: hugging, hand-holding, kissing, and a single self-applied instance of the F word.

Cal arrives at the bluff a few minutes early this time, but Ryldinn is already there waiting, sitting in the grass with his knees up, looking out to sea from behind his big dark sunglasses, not seeming to notice the arrival. Cal approaches from behind, quietly, a cheeky impulse causing him to wonder if he could sneak up on the little man. 

"Not on your best day, beautiful." Ryldinn turns, grinning, and Cal huffs good-naturedly.

"You knew it was me?"

The drow stands and comes to Cal, holding out his hand. "Mm. I can hear you from much further than that. And I can smell you. Can’t see very well in this light, but yes, I knew." Cal takes the offered hand and looks the man over for a minute. Little cut-off shorts, colorful sleeveless cropped shirt, sandals. He can't help but linger on the marvelous legs and the enticing peek of hard stomach, suddenly feeling a bit too warm in his own baggy shorts and plain grey t-shirt. 

"Gods, you’re sexy... I mean... sorry, I... um. Yeah." Cal stammers, trying to quit staring with limited success. 

Ryldinn’s giggle sends a delightful tingle through the tiefling. "That’s alright; I like when you look at me that way. I don’t dress like this for everyone, you know. Would you like to walk for a bit?"

"I'd love to. I can't stay as long as I would like tonight; the shop needs me tomorrow, but I wanted to see you."

The elf doesn't release his hand, but starts walking with him holding it, and Cal marvels again at the beauty and apparent sweetness of the petite man, the slender fingers in his as they wander along the bluff. Ryldinn is silent for a while, seeming comfortable just being with Cal, and his obvious pleasure in Cal’s company makes him a little braver. "Do you mind if I ask you some things about yourself? I was curious..."

"Of course not. You can ask me whatever you want."

"Um, I guess I didn't want to pry... You said you can't see very well. Is that just in the sun?"

Ryldinn nods. "Where I'm from there is no sun. No moon or stars. I saw them for the first time when I... arrived here."

Cal hears the brief hesitation, but continues anyway, wanting to know this man more intimately. "So you are from the Underdark?" Another nod. "How long have you been here?"

"Almost twenty years now, but my daylight vision never improved much."

Cal stops him, surprised. "Oh... well, that's..." He chuckles. "I'm sorry, I know you're an elf, but that just took me by surprise. I'm twenty three years old. I guess you're a bit older than me."

Ryldinn laughs softly. "A bit, yes. Does that bother you? Because I don't mind."

Cal considers, starting to walk again, wanting to be honest. "Hm. I suppose it doesn't, actually. I mean, does that matter if we like each other?"

"I don't think so. You don't seem to be bothered what I am; why should your age concern me?"

"What you are? What do you mean?"

Ryldinn takes a moment this time, thinking. "Well, I suppose my being a fag is alright with you, considering what we're doing. It's a little nerve-wracking being someone's first foray into something like this, but you don't strike me as that kind of guy."

"What kind of guy?"

"Sometimes there are guys who come around the club, not actually gay, but wanting to experiment with more effeminate men. Or they come with their friends as a dare or a bet or something. It's irritating, but we can usually spot them pretty quickly. I also meant because I'm drow though. There's almost as much stigma around that."

Cal grins. "Oh, trust me; there’s plenty around tieflings as well. I'm used to being judged for what I look like. Not everyone has horns and a tail."

"Well, I'm glad you do. I like them." He looks up at Cal. "Your eyes are incredible as well. Beautiful."

The tiefling blushes, smiling shyly. "That’s good." He can't think of anything else to say for a few minutes, so they turn to watch the setting sun, Cal daring to slip an arm around Ryldinn’s back, trying not to be too obvious in his desire to touch the man. But Ryldinn accepts the little embrace and leans against him a bit, so Cal just closes his eyes, letting everything but the feel of the sweet firm body dissolve for the moment. 

After the last blaze of farewell, Ryldinn removes his glasses and slips them through a belt loop on his shorts as they start walking again. Cal pushes his own glasses higher up his nose and eventually drums up the courage to ask more questions. 

"So what do you do for fun?"

"Oh, not much. I go to the club sometimes, to listen to the music. I like to read, put puzzles together." 

"Do you play any sports or anything like that? Forgive me, but I couldn't help but notice that you're in incredible shape." 

"Oh, that. I also like to dance and I do yoga sometimes. Not religiously; honestly most of this is genetic."

Cal chuckles. "Lucky. I'm always fighting with some extra weight I don't need. But I think that's genetic too."

"You mean this?" Ryldinn reaches out, boldly, and runs his hand across Cal's soft belly, and for once, the tiefling resists the urge to suck it in. "I wouldn't worry about it, Cal. Unless it really bothers you, I... I like the way you're built. It's part of the reason you caught my eye in the club that night. You were just sitting there alone looking like you wanted to fold in on yourself... you were so adorable I couldn't help but be drawn to you. Most guys are much more assertive, making what they want very clear. It's nice to have a conversation, and feel like we have a connection."

Cal stops walking again and turns, pulling Ryldinn in for a hug, which is accepted without hesitation, and speaks into his hair. "Well, if you're happy with how I look, I guess that's good. And... well, yeah. A connection is what I want. I'm not really interested in casual hookups or anything like that. I want a friend first." He pulls back again and looks down at the pretty man. "I mean, one of the guys said that almost everyone there has tried to get with you. I suppose I'm really flattered that you gave me a shot."

Ryldinn nods and leans his head on Cal's broad chest. "Yes, that happens, but it's alright, I'm good at soft rejection. Now what about you? What do you do in your spare time?"

Cal strokes the silky hair, enjoying the closeness. "Oh, well, I play rugby on weekends, and I like to draw. I'm not very good at it, but it's fun. Kinda relaxing."

"I am certain you are better than you think. You seem a bit self-critical, if that's not going too far. What sorts of things do you draw?"

"No, you're probably right. My sister says I lack self-confidence. But anyway, hm. I draw people, mostly. I've been trying to get better at anatomy. It's a challenge to get the muscles to flow correctly in different body positions, and the way the light hits..." Cal blushes, remembering how Lia had teased him about his latest artistic inspiration, then takes the drow’s hand again and starts leading them back toward the city. 

"I would love to see your art, when you are comfortable showing it to me, or come to one of your games." 

Cal chuckles. "I don't know if you'll like it. It's just a bunch of sweaty men wrestling over a ball and talking nonsense." Plus, imagining Ryldinn in the stands while he tries to concentrate on a play... 'But sure, I'll let you know when we play again. We have night games too, if that's more comfortable for you."

"Ugh, sweaty men. That sounds awful." Cal hears the smirk in Ryldinn’s voice and looks down to see that the drow is wearing a cheeky grin. Cal chuckles and squeezes the little dark hand, which presses back warmly. He smiles back for a moment, then sighs.

"I guess I should get going. Work in the morning. But this was really nice. I... I really like spending time with you, Ryldinn." Cal turns to face the drow, stepping a little closer, trying to work up the courage. 

Ryldinn is smiling up at him, the moon reflecting in his beautiful eyes. "I like it too, Cal. You're different than... I've never met anyone like you before. You will call me soon?"

"Of course I will. And I've never met anyone like you either." He searches Ryldinn’s face, but the dark elf gives little away. "Ryldinn..." He hesitates, then takes his glasses off and swallows. "May I kiss you goodnight?"

The red eyes widen a little, but the answer is almost immediate. "Yes. Please."

Cal breathes a soft sigh of relief and gently pulls the petite man closer. He seems as hesitant as Cal, if that were possible, but slides a soft hand up the tiefling’s arm to his shoulder while Cal places his own broad palm on the taut waist. He brushes Ryldinn’s hair back with his other hand and slips his fingers into the silky strands, tilting his head back, stretching the moment. The arresting liquid gaze, the moist, slightly parted lips. Careful. Don't fuck this up. 

The sound Ryldinn makes when Cal's full lips touch his is magical. A tiny little inhale followed by an even softer noise, almost a whimper, and Cal can't help but tighten his grip minutely. Their mouths meet, press, slide together, and Ryldinn puts his other arm around Cal's neck and pulls himself up into the sweet little embrace. Cal wants desperately to deepen the kiss, to pull Ryldinn hard against him, lift him, cup his enticing, perfect ass. Not yet. Control yourself. So he contents himself with letting his hand move between the hem of Ryldinn’s shirt and the waistband of his shorts, splaying his fingers along the silken valley of the dark elf's spine. 

Ryldinn shivers at the feel of the big warm hand caressing the bare skin of his lower back. He’d expected something rougher, more demanding. A tighter embrace, maybe groping. At the very least he expected tongue. But Cal doesn’t do that, nor does he invite it. He keeps his lips parted just enough to make the kiss comfortably intimate, without any expectations, and by the time he eases away and touches his forehead carefully to Ryldinn’s, it's the drow who's left trembling and wanting more. But he accepts the young tiefling’s lead, and just smiles into the hug that follows. Cal's strong warm body feels wonderful against him, and though he pulls away again too soon for Ryldinn’s liking, the drow feels very satisfied with how the night had gone. Then the handsome young man ups the ante.

"Thank you, Ryldinn. That was... I don’t even know. You're amazing. I can hardly wait to see you again." He's smiling, showing his white fangs, and it's all the striken elf can do not to pull him down again, to taste those sharp teeth, to climb Cal like a tree and offer himself right then and there. The tiefling gives him one more little peck, on the corner of his mouth, and Ryldinn bites his lip for a second before answering. 

"I feel the same. Soon, alright?" Cal nods, grinning, making Ryldinn do the same. "Alright. Goodnight, Cal."

[imeanwhynotbruv]

Hi! I saw your Soldier Boy AU and I really liked the concept! You mentioned that Spider wouldn't know how to not act like a solider. I'm curious as to how do you imagine this would crop up? It's such a sad thing for a child to go through, and I wonder how the revelation that this kid doesn't know how to be a kid would strike the other kids and adults. I also wonder if Spider even recognizes his upbringing as something abnormal, as kids who grow up in abusive situations typically don't know something is wrong until they find a point of comparison or someone to explain to them.

I look forward to seeing what you do with this AU concept! It's so interesting! :)

Soldier boy Spider Au

AAAAA! I’m so happy you liked it! Im also looking forward to how this au will change but here’s what I think the answers would be so far

I don’t think the other adults would really realise it at first when Spider is still technically their captive. Like they know he’s a bit of a weird kid but they assume it’s just him being worried after practically being kidnapped.

I love Jake, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think he’d notice it right away even when Spiders is interacting with his kids, he’s probably just assume Spider was a well behaved kid (which he’s not really, he’s just scared to get into trouble because they’ve all been really nice to him for the most part) he’s also really busy with his duties as Olo'eyktan and doesn’t have as much time as he’d like even with his own kids, let alone Spider.

I think it would take Neytiri to notice and point it out to him, like she wouldn’t want to notice because she doesn’t want to like this kid, but she just can’t help it. She sees the way Spider won’t hesitate to do what he’s been told even if he clearly didn’t want to, even if he’s doing something else. She watches the way he gets nervous when he hasn’t been given exact, to the point, instructions or how worried he gets when he can’t figure out something that would be simple.

Neteyam would definitely notice, his big brother instincts just on overdrive all the time with his siblings, and because Spider now spends so much time with them that extends to him as well. He sees the way Spider can go from smiling and laughing to cold and professional when an adult (especially his parents) try talking to him.

Kiri would notice and just decide that yeah, she’s going to drown him in her friendship and there’s nothing anyone can do about that.

Lo’ak wouldn’t notice at first, or at least he doesn’t know why Spider acts the way he does. I can definitely see him not liking Spider at first (something he later feels guilty for) especially when after they let Spider outside, Jake is like “why can’t you listen to me like Spider?” “Why can’t you just behave like Spider” Jake doesn’t mean to but he causes a bit of a strain between the two of them in the beginning mainly because Lo’ak thinks Spider is trying to make him look worse, and Spider doesn’t know what he’s doing to make Lo’ak mad and that makes him mad to.

Tuk definitely gets attached to Spider quickly, he’s always willing to indulge her and play with her. However she quickly realised Spider doesn’t really know how to play anything, even hide and seek to her horror, so she takes it upon herself to teach Spider all the games she loves. So she doesn’t know why Spider is the way he is, but she definitely wants to make him happy and by making him play with her, she’s accidentally giving him everything he’d missed out on and he doesn’t understand why he’s enjoying it so much.

Ronal notices almost instantly that Spider is weird, but at first she just try’s to pass it off as a human thing. The more she watches Spider sound the village the more concerned she gets. Spider is too willing to do tasks and not willing enough to ask for help. Maybe he hides and injury (because he’s not aloud to be a problem)or something and she decides enough is enough and talks to Tonowari.

Tonowari also notices quickly, he’s too much of a protective dad not to notice, like Ronal he thinks it’s a human thing but when his wife comes to him to compare notes they realise it’s quite a problem so he decides to talk to Jake.

Jake and Tonowari then have to give a very confused Spider a ‘your not a soldier’ talk, at first he doesn’t understand but they don’t let him leave until he does.

Spider definitely didn’t know his upbringing wasn’t normal, he didn’t have other kids for reference with until the Sullys and a lot of the adults wouldn’t talk to him. Spider is definitely worried the first time he sees Lo’ak talk back, when Tuk throws a tantrum, he doesn’t understand that what happened to him wasn’t just the norm.

He doesn’t understand the strange looks he gets when he asks them weird questions he thought were normal. He’d definitely shocked when he’s woken from a nightmare by Neytiri and comforted, when Jake doesn’t get mad at him because he can’t master the bow immediately, when Ronal explains to him that yes, even a scratch (it’s really not a scratch) deserves to be looked at, when Tonowari doesn’t get mad at him for being tried from work and instead encourages him to take breaks.

He’s shocked at the reactions of other kids when they look at him horrified when he’d talk about his childhood. How their stories are so much different to his own.

He definitely has a good cry when Tonowari and Jake really explain that no, that was not normal and was not his fault.

•••

Anyway those are some of my ideas!

Thank you for asking!

Let me know if you have any suggestions/request/questions I’d love to answer them!

I hope you enjoyed❤️

[trigunwritings]

Hello hell-o!!, so i wanna request can i get Gn! Reader with base on a song hire the song

Gn! Reader who is an angel who fall from the heaven , disguise her self as a human, Bit by bit they try and try to help people , but somewhat felling bit sad and you know.. Kinda hate himself , eventually they meet humanoid typhoon it self, and so bit by bit spent time with him, The reader wanted to show her true self ( like wings and Halo things ect) and yet they did but reader said " I'm look bad aren't i? " But Ofc you know Vash Like shut the reader up and tell that they are Not bad ect ect

SO YE IT'S MIGHT BE SAD A LIL BUT IN THE END READER HAPPY WOOO!!!

One step placed in front of the one before it, the motion even and repeating. It’s almost a mantra of physical movement, over and over again with no seeming end in sight—both metaphorical as much as physical. Onward. That’s all you can think. Onward and onward.

How long? The hot days and cold nights have begun to blur together.

How far? You’ve lost count of the steps since last meeting the eyes of another living thing.

The feeling of sand beneath your feet has gone numb, faded into the background of pure existence just like everything else; the sharp wind, the cold darkness, the air burning beneath a merciless sun. Things like hunger, sleep, thirst—they are nothing, but you are not without a physical sense that feels lacking and empty.

But it’s for the best, you tell yourself.

A lie, you tell yourself.

-

It’s never a good idea to stay in one place too long. If you do, people begin to get curious; from there, curiosity turns into suspicion, then to realization, and then accusation. It’s the same cycle every. single. time. Once one person knows the origin of their town’s newfound ‘miracles’ then its only a matter of hours to get out before they inevitably try to corner you with desperate pleas and agonizing voices of hope.

Please heal my son, he’s been sick for so long-

-bless our crops so that they will finally grow, or else we’ll starve-

-you can’t leave without helping us!

Help us.

You have to.

Each voice is a stone you drag along behind you, tied inexplicably to your memories no matter how hard you want to forget them. Sometimes they are just desperate and think they must convince you to part with some of your strength in order to heal their sick, their tired, their hungry. Other times—most other times—they think you are selfish and evil. To be capable of helping people and not doing so, they say, is that not a form of evil itself?

And that is why you roam. Why you can’t afford to stay without bringing even more harm and fear to the very people you want to help. Why you are afraid to let anyone see you. Know you.

Beg you.

Curse you.

It’s for the best, you tell yourself.

-

Your existence spans so many years that its hard to pull specific moments apart from the relative gray that haunts you. Moments of fleeting joy interspersed with empty desert, sand beneath your feet and wind howling in your ears.

But is shattered by the companionship of one singular man, and his name is Vash.

At first you’re wary of him, hoping to leave his presence and escape to your self-enforced isolation every moment that you can. And yet somehow he sticks to you without fail, as if he has the same levels of unending stamina and inhuman lack of basic needs—but he is so… bright? Joyful? Having grown so used to the cold, dark auras of people in need, Vash’s soul is like staring directly into the sun.

You think that he will wander off on his own path eventually, but he doesn’t—nor does he ask any questions when most would.

The random feathers strewn about camp in the morning after bedding down for the night (it felt nice to sleep again).

Your constant supply of food somehow procured from deep within the old bag on your shoulders (when did it taste so good?).

He did not even question when, in the quiet moments beneath the dark night sky, you held up your cupped hands so that he could sip from the water that miraculously came into existence from nothing at all. And as you sipped in kind, it tasted so cool and refreshing against your dry throat.

When had it been so quenching?

-

“Vash.”

The sound of his name stopped the man mid-step. He turns, eyes glancing back towards you curiously but saying nothing in reply.

He has to know. Why won’t he say something about it? Why isn’t he calling you selfish?

“I’m not human,” you say, the words like needles against your tongue.

He’s quiet for a moment before a soft smile pulls at his lips.

“I know.”

“This is not what I really look like.”

“I know.”

You stare at him for an unknown amount of time before your gaze moves down towards the sand shifting around your feet. How many grains of sand was there on this planet? How many people had succumbed to its deadly embrace? Starvation when you could have created food, illness when you could have healed them. How many people have died in which you could have saved?

A hand suddenly comes down upon your shoulder, jolting you from your thoughts so viscerally that when you look back up to see Vash standing in front of you, there must be tears in your eyes from how much they burn.

“Having the power to help one person doesn’t obligate you to help everyone.”

Hypocrite, but an honest one.

He brings his hands up to cup either side of your face. Is that empathy in his eyes? An understanding? Whatever emotion lies within them, it is interlaced with a pain you are all too familiar with. The pain of regret and guilt.

But his touch is soft and warm. New and unfamiliar. In that very moment, you suddenly realize that there’s not a singular moment within the gray sea of existence that you remember someone touching you like this. It’s nice.

And that’s when your wings shimmer into material existence. Feathers swirl in the air around you both, as numerous and white as forgotten bones strewn across the desert. With but a simple motion they expand outward, so wide that they cast a dark shadow across Vash’s entire body from the suns behind you. Two, four… six? Maybe more, countable and uncountable in ways a human’s eyes can’t always perceive.

The golden ring of light above your head sits like a crown, though it feels many times heavier. Neither a physical or material shape, it hums and wavers in and out of existence as the sunlight scatters through the air. You can even feel the marks start taking shape on your skin—words of a language so old that it spoke the universe into existence.

And Vash doesn’t look away from you.

He watches, smile never fading, holding your face in his palms even when he must feel the weight of a thousand mountains on his shoulders in your presence. Even as the air is hard to breathe, even when your very whispers are like thunder, he looks at you with such fondness.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmurs. “So beautiful.”

And for the first time since the dawn of time itself, you truly believed him.

[invisibleraven]

Okay I am prompting cowboys and aliens AU, pairing of your choice bc I am just so curious lolol

It all starts when Reggie's prize heffer goes missing.

It's annoying, because he hasn't heard of any cattle rustlers in the area, and the local kids learned not to mess with him after he levelled his shotgun at Betsy Gunderson's boy trying to bed the daughter of the local preacher in his hayloft.

So he stakes out his fields, waiting for the idiots who decided to steal from him. He's expecting a group of toughs, or maybe one lone guy out to pick off his herd. He just doesn't expect to get beamed up by a freaking UFO.

The space is sterile and white, and there's no sign of Reggie's wayward cow, or anything else for that matter. He's terrified, worrying about lasers and probes, and every other trope that sci-fi movies have taught him to expect.

Only there are no little green men, but a sentient pile of orangey goo that greet him, making weird squawking at him in a pitch that makes his fillings rattle. He holds his hands over his ears until there's some clicks and chirps, then finally a voice.

"Is that better? Can you understand me now?"

Reggie lowers his hands, and sees the ooze almost vibrating as the voice repeats itself. "Um yeah... thanks? What's going on here?"

"I am here to observe your species," the creature says. "No harm, just observe."

"Did you steal my cow?" Reggie asks accusingly.

The creature glows a little, then gives what Reggie assumes is a laugh, though it sounds like tinkling bells. "Yes, I am afraid I did do that. I have been accused of trying to make it what you call a pet?"

"Yeah, cows aren't pets," Reggie replies. "I would kind of like her back if it's all the same."

"Do you have more?' the creature asks. "I would love to observe them all together in a group."

"A herd? I mean yeah... as long as you aren't planning on keeping them," Reggie says. "Though... do you have another form? This one is liable to give people the willies."

"I am the willies?" the creature ruminates, then shift until he resembles a very attractive human with bronze coloured skin, long dark hair, and cheekbones you could slice bread on. He is also very very naked, so Reggie tries to focus on said cheekbones. "I am acceptable now?"

"Sure, let's... get you to my house for some clothes and I'll show you around the farm."

The creature, who insists on going by The Willies (which Reggie just shortens to Willie, much to it's delight) loves the farm. He's less fond of clothes, but Reggie has managed to get him into shorts and a crop top left over from his last boyfriend, which is good enough.

Willie coos over the cows, is terrified of the chickens, a bit cautious around the pigs and is fascinated by the horses. He's a bit of a disaster in the saddle the first time Reggie takes him riding, but he eventually gets the hang of it, whooping as Ferdinand canters alongside Old Red.

Reggie brings Willie into town, biting back a smile as his wonder at other people, the food, the sights and sounds. It's kind of like a kid at DisneyLand, but he also notices that Willie gets overwhelmed easily, nervous in crowds, so he takes it slow.

"Your world is almost too much for me I'm afraid," Willie says as they head back in Reggie's truck, and Reggie doesn't have the heart to tell him he's only seen a small town in Montana, far from the world.

"We can take it day by day," Reggie replies. "World isn't going anywhere."

"My mission won't allow me to linger here much longer I'm afraid," Willie replies. "I'm supposed to report back soon, with all my findings. They've given me all the extensions they can."

"Oh."

Reggie finds he's kind of sad about that. Over the past few weeks or so he's come to enjoy Willie's presence here. The farm is kind of lonely, and it was nice to have a friend around. "Do you think you might be able to come back? I think you'd love winter time."

Willie is silent for a while, biting his plush bottom lip and playing with his hair. It isn't until they're sat at the table, idly sipping on coffee and poking at a slice of pie that he speaks. "In truth, I do not want to go. I love it here, even if it is too much at times. But I have a duty..."

"I get that," Reggie replies. "You are always welcome to stay or come back if you want."

"It is very far, many parsecs," Willie admits. "I do not think I would be able to return in your lifetime if I went."

"Well that's a bummer," Reggie admits. "Can you give me one more day though?"

"That is the least I can do," Willie replies, squeezing his hand. "After you have given me so much."

Willie returns to his ship soon after-holding human form exhausts him after a while, so he must recharge in his natural state. Reggie takes the time to get everything ready, wanting Willie to go out on a bang.

The next morning, Willie appears in the kitchen, looking around and his wide eyed amazement is pure serotonin for Reggie. He's set the house up for Christmas, complete with the tree, a few present, even got the snow machine to cover the outside of the window and a bit of the lawn.

It's an amazing day, with Willie beaming the whole time. They eat and watch terrible holiday movies, and Willie is ecstatic over the funky socks Reggie got him, just in case he takes a form with feet again.

But as the hour grows later, they know time is running short. Willie says goodbye to the animals, giving Daisy the prize heffer a kiss to her snout, murmuring to her in clicks and whistles, but Reggie gets the sentiment.

"I'll miss you," he admits as they walk towards the place where the ship is hovering in the air, camouflaged by some technology that Reggie doesn't understand.

"And I you," Willie admits. "I think I shall keep the name you gave me, to remember you by."

Reggie give him a sad smile, and brings him in for a hug-their first, as Willie is very hesitant about touch. But this he seems to like, letting it linger. Until he pulls away, smiling at Reggie.

"Farewell Reggie."

"Take care Willie."

And then he's gone, the ship disappearing in a streak of light. Reggie takes his time heading back to the house, even longer dismantling the fake holiday. Finds the pack of socks still sitting on the floor by the couch and has a god cry about it.

But then there's a knock on the door, and when Reggie opens it, there's Willie, hesitant and shy. "Hi. I was wondering... if maybe you could tell me what pets we could have?"

Reggie cries even more, but pulls Willie in for another hug. "We can get a dog," he promises him.

And they do-and a whole lot more than that, in the end.

[tls123]

Sorry if I bother you, but I really love your gif sets! Do you know some tutorials or, app, or anything, to learn how to make good gif? I am learning and I feel very stupid because all my gifs are shit. (if my ask is inappropriate or anything, please ignore me)

you're not bothering and none of this is inappropriate, you're more than welcome in my inbox! as for your questions, let's see what i can do.

1) tutorials — i've been doing this for long enough that i don't really have much to recommend here, the only tutorials i use nowadays are all about specific things and not how to make gifs as a whole. that being said i've linked this one before, i personally do some things differently but it's a very good tutorial, well-received by gifmakers who are just starting and well written, from what i've skimmed through.

another good post to look through is this one, not a gifmaking tutorial per se but it goes into sizes, sharpening, and how to get neat & clear gifs. two of the main points are A) while you can get away with making gifs out of a 720p quality video, 1080p is what is usually recommended. you could use 4k as well, but a 1080p video is usually easier to find, will take less space in your storage, and will give you really good results already. no need for overkill <3 as for B) size matters here on tumblr dot com, mostly width. the op of the post linked in this paragraph has included a nice graphic for the size limits for gifs, you can refer to it as you make your gifs so that whatever you make won't turn out pixelated once you upload it to tumblr.

if you're curious, i've been asked about my sharpening settings here and i spoke before on tumblr sizing here

2) software — you mentioned app, if by app you mean mobile stuff then i'm sorry, i can't help you! i've never made gifs through mobile and i wouldn't even know which direction to point towards for you to find more information. as for computers, if you mean programs then these are what i use to make my gifs: potplayer (for taking screencaps) and photoshop cc 2020 (for making the actual gifs, this is the post i used but here's one with more links)

now i'd like to mention something my grandma always used to say: no one is born learned. you're not stupid just because it's taking you a while to do something, learning is a process and everyone has their own pace. i've been making gifs for a decade now and i know there are things i could do better! i'm also still learning, i make plenty of "shit" gifs before stumbling my way to something i am okay with posting, and sometimes i'm really proud of what i've made and other times i think it's just "good enough". i understand feeling disheartened but please do not feel stupid about any of this!

no use in putting yourself down, now hold my hand and let's add the finishing touches on this long ass reply <3

3) tips — we've mentioned video quality, sharpening, and sizing. what else, what else. personally i would start simple (and i did, way back when, and still do!! most of my gifs are quite simple). so: cropping/resizing + coloring + sharpening. it'll help get the basics down and then you'll have a good foundation for everything else you might want to learn. i mentioned in another ask, almost two years ago now lmao, that i used to download other people's free psds (that is, pre-made settings and layers to color your gifs) and instead of using them i would open them up and pick them apart to see how people were coloring things, which layers they used, in which order, stuff like that.

remember: there is no right or wrong to do this! you could ask ten different people how they make their gifs, and their preferences for any specific part of the process, and you'd get ten different answers. if you find a tutorial and don't vibe with it, throw that aside and look for another. pick and choose, find what works for you and what doesn't! and that means do not be afraid to experiment and try things out.

also, don't like photoshop? no problem! i started with gimp, now personally i wouldn't recommend it over ps but it's a good program, it taught me a lot, and there's really nothing to hate about it. it might have less functions than ps though, and already a decade ago there weren't that many tutorials/resources for it.

don't like photoshop AND don't want to download a program? try photopea, i haven't used it but it works directly from your browser and it should do everything photoshop does!

let me know if there's anything else i can help with <3

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

So there was a conversation about queer representation in video games, and this got said in response to the perception that lesbians are more represented in video games compared to other LGBT identities (particularly gay men):

"Lesbians are fetishized by straight men, so that's why they're more common"

I'm going to be honest and say it's never really sat right with me from that point on. Not because I don't think there isn't some truth to the matter, but because I think it lacks a lot of nuance and a lot of much more important feminist thought. So let's just, break down my thoughts alright?

What does it mean to fetishize lesbians in this situation?

This is actually something I think is worth examining in a lot more detail, because when you talk about lesbian characters in media, there's usually one of two responses from predominantly cishet men regarding them:

The character(s) in question are vehemently disliked, often getting little attention, or as is common in fandom circles, having their character and the content surrounding them relentlessly criticized.

Strong affirmations that the characters involved are Definitely Not Gay and that it's reaching to insist they are.

This, to me, is kind of strange? It's in obvious contradiction to the idea that lesbian characters are getting the most representation. So what exactly is going on?

In truth, both responses highlight some truth, and to understand this, we need to look at the primary way men fetishize lesbians, which is through porn. When it comes to porn, often there is not an overt need to deal with the people involved as wholly unique individuals with their own feelings and thoughts and what not. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, porn actors are sex workers and that's going to be the result of that. It's just kind of a natural result and porn can handle this either gracefully or not.

But as an interesting side result, this means that it becomes very easy to decouple the actors away from the content. The second reaction becomes a dominant factor here: it becomes very easy to view the women involved as being available and often the primary way this developers from there is the idea of performance: a girlfriend and her friend performing for the boyfriend, or maybe two girlfriends etc. Now, again, there's nothing strictly wrong with that in concept as a sex act as long as everyone involved is aware and consenting and happy with it, but it's how it crops up in regards to how lesbians are viewed.

Lesbians are only tolerated when they're viewed to be available to men, and are often violently disliked when that's shown to not be the case. The world has not stopped oppressing lesbians for being overt in their affections towards other women just because of porn videos. This often has the effect that lesbian characters in media are rarely very explicit in order to preserve that illusion, or the much less comical and honestly perhaps somewhat grosser option I call the IntSys method where you just make your characters all bisexual.

To be clear, I find this really disrespectful and cowardly on principle. It really illustrates the extent that the creatives involved just see bisexuality as a convenience and not actually its own important identity. It becomes a way to still sell your lesbians to men, and frankly, eugh. Lesbians and bisexuals really deserve better than that and IntSys are still in fact tremendous cowards.

Fetishization does not correlate to representation either.

Guess who else is also fetishized by straight men its trans women babyyyyy! This is a very known quantity and its curious how that hasn't also caused a similar explosion in the number of trans women in video games. Actually what it has seemingly actually resulted in is more of the "trap" archetype, the transphobic and homophobic character who exists primarily as a joke.

Which is honestly a nice segway into the next point.

Lesbians do not necessarily represent a threat to masculinity.

If you wanted to know why so many lesbians in media are extremely femme and often conform to straight women beauty standards, this is it. It all has to do with masculinity. In fact, this really ties the knot with the problems with both lesbian representation in media (the absolute dearth of masculine women and butches (sorry that Genshin character is not butch)), the lack of representation of trans women, and the lack of representation of gay and bisexual men.

To transgress against masculinity in general has a habit of making you way more hated in our society which worships masculinity as a golden standard. If a woman is too masculine and is trying too hard to be like a man, she's often virulently hated. For trans women, the rejection of masculinity and the embracing of femininity makes them beloathe, and for gay and bisexual men, having sex with men is embracing what is seen as the female sexual role. We can even circle back here to the fetishization and lesbians and the anger of exclusion: it's okay for women to kiss each other and have sex as long as a guy is involved and enjoying it (and very bad if that's not the case). That doesn't even work with gay men, even though statistically more men are enjoying it.

There's an entire thesis that could be written about the stigmatization of the sexual role of the bottom in homosexuality, or on the eventual estrangement of the femme gay men in queer society. Ideas of masculinity are inextricably tied to straight men's perception of gay men, and unfortunately, gay men are often viewed as directly transgressive. A straight man being hit on by a gay man is often viewed as a direct assault on that straight man's masculinity, and as a result, gay men are just directly hated a lot more. There's a reason violence towards gay men is still staggeringly common. It's not like the video game industry is making any progressive waves in combating any of this either.

But there's one point as well in addition to this I would feel remiss not to bring up:

Are we really laying at the feet of a lot of good, honest queer representation in video games the burden of appealing to fetishistic straight men?

This one in particular bothers me because it is actually worth noting that there is a lot of lesbian representation that has nothing to do with fetishization at all. Not because it isn't sexual in any way, but because its created by queer lesbians wanting to see themselves in the media. So one must ask if there's something else involved.

For me, I have a general pet theory that's called Cluster Behavior of Exclusionary Qualities. The gist of it is that I've noticed that outsiders to a community often do not have one single defining trait that separates them from the majority, but often have more of them. The primary reason for this is that people who are already excluded will generally start to re-examine a lot of the other norms they take for granted. But I think another aspect of it as well is that the more reasons you have for not being accepted, generally the more it just makes you stubborn and angry. What are they going to do, exclude you harder? Ultimately, the industry is still really, really sexist and it's harder for women to even make a foothold in the industry at all to begin with. You're not fighting any less uphill, so why not just make something authentic to yourself and resist a lot of the bullshit?

This isn't to say there aren't gay men in the video game industry, there absolutely are, but I think the pressure to conform is probably a lot stronger, because acceptance really is just right around the corner. Sometimes it is easier to just go with the flow when its beneficial, and I don't judge for that its a bitch of a world and we all gotta eat somehow.

So what do I think at the end of all this?

I think that the fetishization of lesbians actually results in us getting a lot less authentic, well-written lesbian characters and stories, and what it does produce are a lot of ambiguously written characters and token attempts at inclusion that often fall flat. I do think it's likely even then that still outweighs a lot of other representation in video games, but I think there are much stronger factors to explain that.

At the end of the day, we're all fighting for fucking scraps out here. We're not going to get better representation by taking jabs at each other about this. But maybe, one day, we can live in a world where a Final Fantasy 19 has two women absolutely destroying it so I no longer need to see the straight couple from 16.